Ong~Bak The Thai Warrior
(20th Century Fox)

It seems there’s at least one martial arts pic to review each month (if not more), but as long as they’re good, I’m down with it. If it’s like Ong~Bak The Thai Warrior and really great, that’s even better. This was a most pleasant surprise and once it got going, had me on the edge of my seat until the credits rolled. A proponent of the kickboxing style known as Muay Thai, Tony Jaa rivals both Jackie Chan and Jet Li for style and ingenuity, especially as there is no CGI, wires, or special effects of any kind used in the fantastic stunts that become more extreme every few minutes.

A small village sends their best martial artist in search of the head of the town’s Buddha, that was stolen by thieves. He searches out the son of one of the villagers for assistance, only to discover he’s a hustler and petty crook. When he inadvertently finds himself in the middle of a kickboxing competition at a local club, he lays out his opponent with one blow to become the new champion. Of course this sets the stage for bigger and more violent confrontations inside the ring and out, but Jaa is equal to every challenge. In an extended scene as Jaa is being chased through the streets by a large gang, he leaps over cars, dives through and slides under them, jumps through hoops, scales large walls and runs across the heads and shoulders of his attackers to escape. Often when a move is particularly cool, the shot will get replayed several times from different angles as if to say, “look mom – no gimmicks!” In the ‘making of’ bonus materials, it’s clear that Jaa is doing all his own stunts and that his opponents undoubtedly need a whole lotta Tylenol to deal with the pain that’s being dished out.

Martial arts fans will have probably seen Ong~Bak several times by now, but for the rest of you, it’s time to catch up to the next big superstar in the industry. Jaa is going to be huge and you can say you heard it here first. - David Bassin